FORMER Sky Blues striker Craig Bellamy believes he has at last got the right stage to make himself a Wales great....

FORMER Sky Blues striker Craig Bellamy believes he has at last got the right stage to make himself a Wales great.

The little hitman is described by his new boss at Newcastle Bobby Robson as "the Welsh Michael Owen".

That may come as something of a surprise to the people who voted him City's least popular player in an icCoventry survey at the end of last season.

But he is bubbling with confidence as he prepares for the World Cup showdown with Armenia in Cardiff on Saturday.

He scored a cracking goal for Newcastle in their north-east derby draw with Sunderland last weekend.

Now he reckons his #6 million summer move from relegated Coventry will be the spark for him to prove he is a Premiership-quality striker after admitting he "was not ready for it" when he moved the previous summer from Norwich for #6.5 million.

Cardiff-born Bellamy, 22, who has 12 caps, has club-mate Gary Speed's 65 internationals as his goal.

He said: "I should have had more caps. But there's nothing you can do about injuries or silly suspensions.

"But I'm only 22 and I want to get up to Gary Speed's level and win the amount of caps he has done."

Bellamy added: "I know I have improved every year but there must be a continuation of that improvement in my game.

"I've not started as many games as I'd have liked. But I want to make up for lost time and become a big name for Wales."

Bellamy claimed getting away from the restrictions and frustrations of Coventry's unsuccessful relegation battle with a move to a massive club like Newcastle would only help him.

"No disrespect to people at Coventry but I'm playing with some really good players now," said Bellamy.

"You make a run, they see it and they play it.

"It's a great atmosphere at Newcastle, it's a huge club with massive crowds and it gives you a real lift.

"Some of the clubs I've been at you have to be self motivated, but at St James' Park you can feel the hairs on the back of your neck every time you run out, it's something special."

Bellamy, who will almost certainly partner former Norwich colleague Iwan Roberts against the Armenians, added: "It's the big stage I have been waiting for.

"I don't really think I was ready for it last season when I went to Coventry. I was coming back from injury and I don't think I did myself justice.

"It was a lot of money for me and it did have an effect because it was all people could think about.

"At Newcastle it doesn't mean as much. We have #6 million players sitting on the bench or in the reserves, it's nothing to them. We have just spent #10 million on one player - (Laurent) Robert.

"Money doesn't mean the same thing at a bigger club. As long as you are a good player and you work hard, that's all they care about."

Bellamy added: "At Coventry it was different because I cost a lot of money and they haven't got much to throw about. It didn't bother me much but it did worry others.

"When we were losing, people would start saying that I was a waste of money. But Coventry are not as good as a lot of bigger clubs. You are not going to outplay clubs like Liverpool with me on my own up front.

"People didn't say 'Coventry weren't that bad', they said the big signing wasn't any good.

"But give us a break. When you are say, playing against (Marcel) Desailly at Chelsea when you've only got 10 men, then you aren't going to get a kick.

"You are on your own up front or spending your time defending in your own half, so you are not going to get many chances to prove yourself."

But the little Welsh star said: "I feel much better now, at a bigger club. There used to be a lot of teams better but now - apart from the elite five - there's a lot of teams like Newcastle who believe they can achieve something.

"Now I find myself in the final third of the pitch a few more times. I believe Newcastle can challenge to be in the top half dozen or so. I'm excited, it's a great honour to play for them and I didn't really realise how big they are.

"I'm just intent now on learning. I've got a four-year contract and I want to prove in those four years that I'm a real asset to them and hope to go on from there."

Bellamy's change of club and fortune has no doubt brought a smile to national boss Mark Hughes's face.

Bellamy said: "Wales can only gain from my move. In the Premiership I'm facing world-class players every week, and that's what it's like at international level too, these players are no mugs.

"I used to watch the really top players and started to have self doubts about myself. But when you are in a good team, at a big club, it helps because after a while you realise you can compete against the best and they are not as good as you thought they were.

"You respect them obviously but you go out and prove your worth against them."